Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (17 page)

“Please, Kate,” Sean begged quietly.

What had become of him? Asking like this,
freaking out like he was, groveling to Krista’s friend. He’d never
done this before in his life; he’d never put himself out there for
so many people to laugh and ridicule if they wanted. He’d never
exposed himself like this. All to get a girl to like him.

And the bitch of it was, he’d keep going.
Because she was worth it.

“Please tell me?” Sean said again, rubbing
his head. “I won’t affect her ability to move on in any way. I
just—I need more information on this. I can’t lose her. I am trying
to make it better for her here. I am trying to figure out a way. We
just have to get through this weekend and I am confident she’ll
have a gold-plated place in this company.”

Kate sighed through the phone. “Fine. Only
because I like when she’s my boss—I know, I’m insane. But Sean, if
you fuck her over on this, I swear I will figure out a way to fuck
you over back. I will find your house and light your bushes on
fire. If you think I am kidding, then you are a dumb fucking prick.
Am I making myself clear?”

Sean sat down heavily, shaking his head at
her trademark foul mouth. He believed her. He was actually slightly
nervous. It almost made him chuckle—especially since she was barely
five feet tall.

“I won’t…fuck her over,” Sean replied. He
didn’t like swearing all that much, but he thought it was necessary
with her.

“
Dorito’s
is offering her something
like a 15% raise. They want her
bad
. They’ll definitely go
higher when she starts to negotiate. Bingley’s has heard that she
is thinking about looking, also. They are probably trying to make
contact to see how much she wants. By the time next week is over,
it’ll be a bidding war. Everyone loves her, Sean. She kicks ass in
a soft sort of way. Bosses are gaga over her.”

Sean hung his head. He knew she was getting
near the end of her patience, but he didn’t know she was this
close. “Thanks, Kate. I know how valuable she is. I’m just more of
a hindrance than a help these days.”

“Yup. You are. I gotta go. Some of us had to
stay behind to work.”

~*~*~*~

Marcus came out of the bathroom to Sean
sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Sean looked up at
his approach. His face was one of pure desperation.

“Two companies, Marcus. Two companies want
her so far. I can’t give her a raise yet because I am too new. I
can’t support her through this because she won’t let me. I can’t
figure out how to get her team to
work
, let alone accept
her. Without her, I’ll fail—in life and in this job. Yet there is
nothing I can do to keep her.”

Marcus pulled his towel around him, sat on
the adjacent couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. He
enjoyed flashing Sean most times, just to see him squirm, but this
wasn’t the time.

“First of all, bro.” Marcus paused, hating
saying the term
bro.
He felt like a caveman, but it was the
most straight-man’s man-to-man expression he knew. “You are over
reacting. You rarely fail in anything you do. You
certainly
won’t fail in your position.

“Second, you haven’t failed with her yet.
I’ve talked to her. She hasn’t dated anyone since that…since Chet.
She hasn’t even
slept
with anyone else, and believe me, I’ve
been keeping my eyes open. I can’t believe she’s lasted this long!
She isn’t over you, Sean. She’s just waiting for a reason to trust
you again. Give her one.”

Sean didn’t look up. “What do you think I’ve
been trying to do, Marcus? If I knew how to prove myself, I
would.”

“Back her this weekend. Back her, look out
for her, and help her succeed.”

Sean looked up in irritation. “Of
course
I am going to back her. Even if she was nothing but a
co-worker, she is exceptional at her job. Of course I’ll fight for
her. So will you. And Janice. But it won’t be enough.”

“Krista won’t let the guys here roll her
over. She is a nerdy push-over, but she’ll only play dead for so
long. If you give her little signs of support—“ Marcus held up a
hand to stop Sean from arguing. “I
know
you don’t think she
wants it, but she does. She needs it. Whether she’ll admit it or
not, you are her loved one. Give her a little encouragement. Trust
Uncle Marcus, he knows.”

Sean chuckled despite himself and shook his
head. “What is this woman doing to me?”

“Making you a better person. Let her.”

Sean leaned back, now smiling bigger.
“
Bro?”

Marcus threw a pillow at him and walked back
to the bedroom—Sean’s confidence was back. To herald the occasion,
Marcus dropped his towel in plain sight.

Chapter Twelve

Exiting the bathroom feeling refreshed and
more like herself, Krista sighed, thankful Jasmine didn’t send the
squirt bottle with Janice. She’d taken a nice long shower, took her
time getting her hair and makeup just right, and had a glass of
wine from the mini-bar. She was relaxed and ready to kick a little
ass. If she was going to leave anyway, she might as well go out in
style.

Krista put on her well-cut, but still plain,
black dress and admired herself in the mirror. She looked good.
Conservative, but pretty. Feminine, but with status. It was subtle
beauty and it emulated subtle power. She deserved her role, and she
would prove it—the dress helped her sell that image.

When she came out of the bathroom, she heard
the same voices as before. When she entered the sitting room, Sean
and Marcus both looked up.

“Hmm, great work, doll. Jewelry?” Marcus
said.

Krista swore under her breath and caught
Janice’s disapproving eye. She put on her sapphire necklace and
some bracelets, and then headed back out. It wasn’t until Sean
noticed the necklace that she remembered he’d given it to her. Also
when
he’d given it to her. It had been the night she’d had
to admit she would have to say goodbye. It was also the first night
Sean had ever been without a condom with a woman. She wondered if
she was still the only one.

His eyes were attached to hers. They had
widened briefly, surprised she was wearing the necklace he got her,
but now they were connected. His look turned her insides to mush,
making her eyes glisten and her heart lurch. If she didn’t do
something quick, she was going to have a meltdown.

“Geegee, quit stalling. C’mon. I have people
to meet,” Marcus said, standing up abruptly.

Krista wrenched her eyes away from Sean and
took a big, cleansing breath. Then reality set in.

“Do I have to do your circuit with you?” she
whined.

“Yes. C’mon.” He pushed her out the door.

“Hold a seat for me,” Sean called out.

Marcus waved at him as he let the door shut
and started walking to dinner. “Geegee, get a grip. You don’t want
to ruin your makeup.”

“Thanks,” she said simply. She was now
extremely glad she told Marcus all about she and Sean. Without
Kate, Jasmine, or Ben, she didn’t have any lifelines in case she
lost control. And with Sean around, control was fleeting at
best.

They did their stupid rounds again. This
time, Marcus made contact for the second time, and Krista had to
talk more. It was a pain. Small talk was irritating, especially
since the managers all thought she was an admin assistant and
really only there to be a donkey. Oh yeah, and eye candy. Krista’s
irritation was rising incrementally with each new person she had to
talk to.

Finally, they sat for dinner. They got to
pick their seats, so Marcus invited a couple of admin assistants to
join them. He started gossiping with them immediately, effectively
excluding Krista because she could nowhere near keep up, and
definitely didn’t want to.

Instead, she people watched. It was out of
boredom, sure, but she needed to get to know her enemies. She
needed to figure out what she was up against, and come up with a
way to effectively work around them. Or go through them. Or over
them. Or stab them. Whichever worked.

The first thing of note was that many of the
mangers knew each other. They talked sports and sometimes about
golf or cigars. There was a defined pecking order. A few guys got
deferential treatment, many were their groupies, and a few others
were obviously the nerds and mostly ignored. They stood around in
groups (girls would call them cliques) talking and laughing, and
unconsciously complementing each other on being men.

As Krista watched, she noticed quite a few
men were self-conscious—looking around, fidgeting, and following
the conversation rather than an active part in it. Even more were
trying to puff up for the passing admins, thinking with their
anatomy instead of their position. It was gross. And not
professional.

Sean was working his way through them, acting
like the ambitious new guy everyone wanted to measure up. As such,
they were vying for his attention like a bunch of girls. Women and
men both turned to look as he approached, eager to meet him and
exchange a few words. He was smiling and confident,
enthusiastically shaking hands and being the man’s man they
expected. He was having no problems fitting in.

Wanting someone to talk to, Krista turned
back to Marcus, but he was leaning the other way, whispering
something conspiratorially to the three women he was talking to.
With each word, he transformed further into just another admin
assistant, effectively closing off the manager he’d walked around
with earlier. He was doing his job. Part of Krista wished he wasn’t
so great at it.

In a quick depression, she stared at her wine
and thought about ways to further improve her department. As she
was doing a quick rundown of numbers in her head, she noticed the
seat in front of her disturbed. She figured it was Sean, but her
quick glance told her she was wrong. Instead, it was a guy over six
feet tall with wavy dark-brown hair and deep blue eyes. He was
attractive, if not gorgeous, and had a lean body. Besides that,
there was something about him that was sexy as hell.

“Hel
lo
,” Marcus said as the stranger
sat down.

Oh, sure—when a hot guy comes over he makes
conversation my way!

The man’s blue eyes shifted from Krista to
Marcus. “Hey, bro. Blake.”

“Marcus. Nice to meet you.” Apparently Marcus
also thought their new visitor was sexy as well.

Blue eyes met Krista’s blue-gray and
waited.

“Krista,” she supplied.

Blake quirked an eyebrow. “Which region are
you from?”

“L.A. You?”

“New York. I saw you over here looking bored.
Thought I might entertain you. I wondered how I got so lucky that
you weren’t with the other admins…”

Krista’s butt actually clenched. Possibly to
keep her jaw from doing so. “I’m not part of their club.”

“Oh? And which club would that be?”

“The administrative club.”

“
Oh
, so you’re the female manager out
of Los Angeles that took Phil’s spot?” Blake was obviously
surprised. He knew there was one, so what type of woman was he
expecting? Older, perhaps? Manly, maybe?

“That’s me.”

“Huh. I heard she was a bitch.”

Oh. Apparently Krista wasn’t wearing her
bitch
face. She might remedy that...

“Relax,” Marcus breathed quietly. Blake’s
eyes flashed.

Krista didn’t need the reminder. Hot guys
trying to get a rise out of her was as familiar as sexual
harassment. She was on home turf. She also needed to stop meeting
guys in bars.

“Biggest bitch of the company, in the flesh,”
she said, confidence purring under her words. “Most effective, as
well. I don’t have a penis to get in the way of my decisions.”

Blake smiled silkily at the jest and smiled.
“A pleasure.”

Krista’s sexy parts purred to match her
voice.

The chair moved to Krista’s side. On her
other side, Marcus smiled.

“Hi Blake, nice to see you,” Sean’s deep
voice greeted pleasantly. There was a warning in that voice.
Subtle, but powerful.

“McAdams. How are you finding the job?” Blake
didn’t sound pleased to see Sean.

“It’s great. I’ve settled in nicely.”

“Oh yeah? I heard it was a rough start.”

“Changing things always is.”

Blake looked at him in silence for a second,
and then smiled as he turned his eyes back to Krista. “Krista, it
was a pleasure. I’ll talk to you again. Enjoy your dinner.”

Krista sighed as Blake glanced at Marcus and
smoothly got up. She watched him walk over to a table across the
floor holding one of the heavy hitters—a large statured man who had
already proven to be in the upper tier of the many cliques. With
him were three other serious-looking silver haired foxes. If ego
was an air-freshener, that table would be polluting the whole place
with its stench.

Blake wasted no time checking out the
clusters of young admins. The slut was joining the table of egos to
learn a thing or two.

I just might hate this place.

“You’re drooling,” Marcus said with a laugh
in his voice.

“They are the region to beat,” Sean stated,
his voice tight.

“Blake didn’t seem to like you much,” Krista
noted lightly as she buttered a piece of bread.

“No. I got the job he wanted. Tory likes to
promote from within and I was completely unheard of before I took
the open position. Blake is the same level you are, but has been so
for about five years. He thought he was due to move up. His boss
did, too. Luckily for me, Tory didn’t.”

“Hmm.” Krista was uninterested in business
politics from a company that liked to ostracize women. Also, the
pistons were firing in her groin and she needed to get laid.
Badly.

She felt Sean looking at her, noticing her
desire. “He’s your type,” he said slowly and with some
hesitation.